[rbVmVlQ2]

I was at first rejected by other African Americans at my middle school and this did follow me a bit. For some reason, there was a very strong divide between the ethnic groups at the school. It was diverse, but segregated and students did not mix much in dating. People had ideas of how someone was supposed to look if they belonged to a particular ethnic group. I had a distinctive appearance, so it was not hard to notice me and isolate me from the start. I was dogged by rumors of who my father actually was ("a Mexican") and people said some pretty screwed up things about my mother because of the rumors surrounding my paternity. Mexican Americans at the school had a very cohesive clique (Chicano Pride was big) but I was accepted in eighth grade even though I was not Mexican. But I wanted to fix the "black beef" first, especially if I encountered folks at a later time in school (which I did not). It was actually my mixed Afram/Pakistani friend that was pivotal in my acceptance into the Afram circle and settling the ethnic beefs in our peer group. A memorable intervention with some rough words, honest truths, and handshakes brought the entire conflict to an end. In the ensuing years, people did not to mock me for my look and forgot about the entire thing. While some continued to wonder about the real background of my father, they agreed certain things were better left unknown.

[AdSuiteAdobe]

Yeah but there are Dominicans of different "racial" types if you will, better yet, phenotypes. There are some near white like Kilo and some who are predominantly Afro. Of course the majority are pretty well blended.

To tell you the truth, I was mostly oblivious to the whole race issue during my school and college years. It has been with all the unpleasantness with the Haitian inmigration issue since 2007 that the issue have come to be foremost in my mind. What I was back in those days, though, was very ideologically driven, being an annoying lefty and all ("Down with US imperialism" discourse, and all that jazz). I became disillusioned with Marxism the more I delved into it after college, though.

[niemamczasu]

I was at first rejected by other African Americans at my middle school and this did follow me a bit. For some reason, there was a very strong divide between the ethnic groups at the school. It was diverse, but segregated and students did not mix much in dating. People had ideas of how someone was supposed to look if they belonged to a particular ethnic group. I had a distinctive appearance, so it was not hard to notice me and isolate me from the start. I was dogged by rumors of who my father actually was ("a Mexican") and people said some pretty screwed up things about my mother because of the rumors surrounding my paternity. Mexican Americans at the school had a very cohesive clique (Chicano Pride was big) but I was accepted in eighth grade even though I was not Mexican. But I wanted to fix the "black beef" first, especially if I encountered folks at a later time in school (which I did not). It was actually my mixed Afram/Pakistani friend that was pivotal in my acceptance into the Afram circle and settling the ethnic beefs around in our peer group. A memorable intervention with some rough words, honest truths, and handshakes brought the entire conflict to an end. In the ensuing years, people began not to mock me for my phenotype and forgot about the entire thing. While some continued to wonder about the real background of my father, they agreed certain things were better left unknown.

The Aframs at your highschool were predominantly African? Like 90%+ ?

---------- Post added 2012-01-02 at 22:28 ----------

To tell you the truth, I was mostly oblivious to the whole race issue during my school and college years. It has been with all the unpleasantness with the Haitian inmigration issue since 2007 that the issue have come to be foremost in my mind. What I was back in those days, though, was very ideologically driven, being an annoying lefty and all ("Down with US imperialism" discourse, and all that jazz). I became disillusioned with Marxism the more I delved into it after college, though.

You went to HS in the capital?

---------- Post added 2012-01-02 at 22:29 ----------

Your school was mostly Afram huh?

[Onervemurce]

You went to HS in the capital?

Yes. But I never lost contact with both my families' campos, though, and used to escape from the city the first holiday that appeared on the horizon. Very few summers saw me idling on these streets.

[Alex Photographer]

The Aframs at your highschool were predominantly African? Like 90%+ ?

---------- Post added 2012-01-02 at 22:28 ----------



You went to HS in the capital?

---------- Post added 2012-01-02 at 22:29 ----------



[/b]Your school was mostly Afram huh?[/b]

yes it was

[Derrida]

The Aframs at your highschool were predominantly African? Like 90%+ ?[COLOR="Silver"]

Yeah, 80-90% SSA. I was easily distinguishable from them. I did have one Louisiana Creole friend. She was probably 50% SSA and they picked on her, too. She also looked noticeably different from the average.

[pataagusata]

yes it was

Were there other ethnic groups there? If so, was there any tensions?

---------- Post added 2012-01-02 at 22:32 ----------

Yes. But I never lost contact with both my families' campos, though, and used to escape from the city the first holiday that appeared on the horizon. Very few summers saw me idling on these streets.

I would had thought there was Haitian students in the capital's highschools.

[mygalinasoo]

I would had thought there was Haitian students in the capital's highschools.

Before 2005, the only way people here could get to see them was if one made a trip to some far off campo and/or batey. Or went to their corner near Ciudad Nueva, of course.

[AgowlSown]

No videos but my HS was overwhelmingly white with a some blacks who lived in another town but close enough to go to our better funded school. Hispanics who were assimilated hung out with whites and low class/unassimilated Hispanics hung out with the blacks since they both lived in that aforementioned near by town. Lots of social cliques among the general population based on music or style but it's a smallish town so everyone who lived in town got along.

[palantownia]

Before 2005, the only way people here could get to see them was if one made a trip to some far off campo and/or batey. Or went to their corner near Ciudad Nueva, of course.

What about today? Do you know any Dominican HS students in the capital to ask? I am interested in learning about that.

[BuyNetHosting]

What about today? Do you know any Dominican HS students in the capital to ask? I am interested in learning about that.

Nope. Maybe I'll ask my nephews once they get to hit primary school.

From what some acquaintances have told me, there is a sizeable presence of them in our public schools, though. Regrettably, our public education system sucks mightily when compared with the private one.

[tsaaapla]

California highschools seem to be the worst or it sure seems that way as they have the most filmed racial/ethnic conflicts in their schools and streets.



---------- Post added 2012-01-02 at 22:54 ----------

Here's another video where ethnicity is brought up in a HS classroom. The video does not say what part of the US but it's a place with a lot of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans. Might be Chicago.



---------- Post added 2012-01-02 at 22:57 ----------

Student of PR descent very angry about being called Mexican in his HS. Caution: do not play this video around children, explicit content.

[LsrSRVxR]

Elementary and middle school in the Bronx: All I can say about that was that the school was mostly hispanic and african american. Dominicans were the largest group, then Afram, followed by Puerto Ricans. There was tension between the really hick Dominican class and the African American/Dominican-York/ Nuyorican class. However, my class, which was honors, was universally picked on by the hicks and the ghetto kids. So I guess that academic level, followed by nationality, where some of the causes of conflicts.

My High School was in Queens, NYC. We saw queens as a step-up from the utter chaos and constant warfare that plagued all Bronx high schools. No way in hell was I going to a Bronx HS. In Queens, everyone, and I mean everyone was represented. If I had to pick the largest group, I'd say Colombians, Ecuadorians, Dominicans, Mexicans, where the largest Hispanic groups in that order. It felt strange to me not being the dominant group. All the other Latinos would make fun of our accent. I stuck with the Dominicans, but usually Hispanics hung out together (but your own country first.) It was segregated. African Americans kept to their own as well.

There was a time in the Bronx, that in a certain school, if you were Dominican, you would get beaten up every day by the African Americans. Thank god that school was closed. It will always live in infamy.

Nowadays, in Dominican run school (which are many) they are the ones controlling and beating up African Americans and other groups. They have the numbers now, different from say 1997, when there where more Aframs and less Dominicans in the Bronx than there is now.

[syncFisee]

Elementary and middle school in the Bronx: All I can say about that was that the school was mostly hispanic and african american. Dominicans were the largest group, then Afram, followed by Puerto Ricans. There was tension between the really hick Dominican class and the African American/Dominican-York/ Nuyorican class. However, my class, which was honors, was universally picked on by the hicks and the ghetto kids. So I guess that academic level, followed by nationality, where some of the causes of conflicts.

My High School was in Queens, NYC. We saw queens as a step-up from the utter chaos and constant warfare that plagued all Bronx high schools. No way in hell was I going to a Bronx HS. In Queens, everyone, and I mean everyone was represented. If I had to pick the largest group, I'd say Colombians, Ecuadorians, Dominicans, Mexicans, where the largest Hispanic groups in that order. It felt strange to me not being the dominant group. All the other Latinos would make fun of our accent. I stuck with the Dominicans, but usually Hispanics hung out together (but your own country first.) It was segregated. African Americans kept to their own as well.

There was a time in the Bronx, that in a certain school, if you were Dominican, you would get beaten up every day by the African Americans. Thank god that school was closed. It will always live in infamy.

Nowadays, in Dominican run school (which are many) they are the ones controlling and beating up African Americans and other groups. They have the numbers now, different from say 1997, when there where more Aframs and less Dominicans in the Bronx than there is now.

Oh you went to HS in Queens. I got a couple cousins from Queens. I had a female cousin who was into ghetto Aframs. She said she liked the guys with swag. She would go to Queensbridge after highschool and she told me the Afram girls would say "yall Spanish girls are taking all our men!". At your Queens HS was there fights between the Aframs and the Spanish speaking background groups?

[investor]

When I was in school there where few blacks, I think, 2000 thousand students and only 4 blacks, I knew all of them, but I never heard about racism in my old school.

[Snuddyentaine]

When I was in school there where few blacks, I think, 2000 thousand students and only 4 blacks, I knew all of them, but I never heard about racism in my old school.

2000 students what were they? whites and pardos?

[TEFSADDERFISA]

Triethnic looking student of PR-Honduran descent at 3:05 refers to himself as white boy, and Spanish of course. Since he hangs out with a lot of Aframs he's adopted this perspective of calling any people of a Spanish speaking background "white boy".

That's weird to me, where I went to school, "Hispanic" was treated as a race/ethnicity, which I always sound annoying, but they wouldn't call a PR or Hondorean "white boy", only people of European decent, though I remeber there was a group of Albanians who called one of their group "white boy" as a nickname as if they wer enot "white" and also I remember one who actually disassociated himself from the term "white". Hispanic though is called "Spanish" usually and treated as non-white and non-black, or that was how it was in my HS, not that I agree or disagree. I do remember getting in an argument ounce with a Puerto Rican friend of mine who was convinced that Puerto Ricans were in fact Spanish, though she was obviously of mixed heritage (I've met both of her parents), she clearly didn't identify with any of her heritage besides Spanish which.

[mashabox]

Oh you went to HS in Queens. I got a couple cousins from Queens. I had a female cousin who was into ghetto Aframs. She said she liked the guys with swag. She would go to Queensbridge after highschool and she told me the Afram girls would say "yall Spanish girls are taking all our men!". At your Queens HS was there fights between the Aframs and the Spanish speaking background groups?

Yeah there definitely was. NYC high schools are some of the worst in the country. Even my HS, which was consider decent, had it's fair share of fights. I have to say though, alot of the fighting was gang related. Latin Kings vs ABK , Latin Kings vs Familia, Latin King vs Trinitario , Bloods Vs Crips, Lost Boys vs Crips etc not to mention the cliques (homemade gangs). So in Queens, gang warfare was more common than racial warfare...even though they can both go together.

[SeLvesTr]

That's weird to me, where I went to school, "Hispanic" was treated as a race/ethnicity, which I always sound annoying, but they wouldn't call a PR or Hondorean "white boy", only people of European decent, though I remeber there was a group of Albanians who called one of their group "white boy" as a nickname as if they wer enot "white" and also I remember one who actually disassociated himself from the term "white". Hispanic though is called "Spanish" usually and treated as non-white and non-black, or that was how it was in my HS, not that I agree or disagree. I do remember getting in an argument ounce with a Puerto Rican friend of mine who was convinced that Puerto Ricans were in fact Spanish, though she was obviously of mixed heritage (I've met both of her parents), she clearly didn't identify with any of her heritage besides Spanish which.

There was not much white Americans in my HS so Aframs call the next lightest group/non-Afram group 'white' for that reason.

---------- Post added 2012-01-02 at 23:35 ----------

Yeah there definitely was. NYC high schools are some of the worst in the country. Even my HS, which was consider decent, had it's fair share of fights. I have to say though, alot of the fighting was gang related. Latin Kings vs ABK , Latin Kings vs Familia, Latin King vs Trinitario , Bloods Vs Crips, Lost Boys vs Crips etc not to mention the cliques (homemade gangs). So in Queens, gang warfare was more common than racial warfare...even though they can both go together.

Colombian Americans had gangs and ethnic fights too? If so what kind?